


Exceeding Expectations

by Arboreal



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1+1, BAMF Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Winter Soldier is a separate personality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-03-02 19:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18817903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arboreal/pseuds/Arboreal
Summary: Five times Tony was amazing out of the armor, one time Tony was amazing in the armor, and one time Tony didn’t have to be either.  (Includes: Engineering, Knitting, The Press, A Dozen Children, Dancing, A Daring Rescue, And An Unfortunate Baking Incident.)





	1. Engineering

**Author's Note:**

> My fill for the Iron Man Big Bang!
> 
> The story is finished! Future chapters will be posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays until the official final posting date.
> 
> Based on a prompt from [journeythroughtherain](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/journeythroughtherain/pseuds/journeythroughtherain)
> 
> Artwork by [hereandnowwearealive](http://hereandnowwearealive.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Beta-ed by the wonderful [dls](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/dls/pseuds/dls) !

  1. Engineering



No two ways about it, Bucky Barnes liked Tony Stark.  If he was being honest about it, he had since Steve brought Bucky in soon after the business with SHIELD and HYDRA and the Insight helicarriers.  Tony Stark had taken him in then, even after Steve had explained what Bucky had done, what had been done to him, and set him up with lawyers and doctors and therapists and his own tech.

Tony wasn’t as keen on him, of course, and Bucky didn’t blame him for that.  Finding out a guy killed your parents and then almost killed your friends, even if the guy was brainwashed at the time, would hardly endear a fellow to you.  That Tony helped him at all showed just what an upstanding kind of man he was.  It may have mostly been because Bucky was Steve’s old friend and Steve had asked Tony for help as soon as he found out, but that was fine.  Bucky couldn’t help but like a guy who would look out for Steve that way.

Things did get better as time went on.  Between the retro framing sessions, maintenance on Bucky’s arm, and fighting together on the Avengers, the initial anger wore off and Tony slowly warmed up to him.  It helped that Bucky was as much a wise guy as Tony was; a few tentative jokes between them to break the tension eventually became a near-constant stream of good-natured jibes back and forth whenever they were in the same place at the same time.  It drove the others crazy, especially poor Steve who had to try to ride herd on them, but Bucky wouldn’t trade seeing the normally put-together Tony Stark cracking up over some stupid pun Bucky had made for all the world.

The Winter Soldier, unfortunately, was another matter.  

Winter didn’t dislike Tony, exactly, but he didn’t trust him, either.  Tony Stark was a powerful man who had every reason to want Bucky and Winter dead.  From his time under HYDRA, Winter knew what happened when a powerful person wanted someone dead.  _He_ had been what happened when they wanted someone dead.  Winter didn’t understand why Tony insisted on helping rather than hurting, and the uncertainty made him uneasy and suspicious.

After everything Tony had done for them, Bucky wouldn’t have been surprised if the other man had been offended by Winter’s obvious distrust.  Bucky sure didn’t appreciate Winter’s attitude toward someone he was beginning to think of as a friend.  Tony, though, took it like a champ.  He just gave them their space when Winter made an appearance and shrugged off the assassin’s wary looks and apprehensive behavior.  That Tony seemed to consider himself deserving of the animosity and suspicion made Bucky feel even worse about Winter continuing to regard Tony as something closer to an enemy.

At least, that’s how Bucky had thought Winter regarded Tony until Winter decided to make an unannounced visit while Tony was working on their mechanical arm. 

Even though Bucky was usually the one in charge, Winter was always there, a constant presence in Bucky’s mind who was not shy about sharing his two cents.  The only time Winter ever pulled back enough that Bucky could hardly notice him was when the arm was being worked on.  It was understandable, really.  Maintenance under HYDRA had been anything but pleasant; Bucky only had vague memories, but those he could remember were filled with enough pain and fear to explain why Winter didn’t want to be aware even if Tony was nothing like HYDRA.

Bucky, on the other hand, looked forward to the time set aside every week for maintaining the arm.  Tony was incredibly busy but the repairs and upgrades to the arm meant he and Bucky had a chance to shoot the breeze uninterrupted for a while as Tony carefully worked on the delicate mechanisms.  Bucky getting to admire what a good-looking guy Tony was while he was at it was just icing. 

That Bucky was a little too caught up watching Tony might explain how he didn’t notice Winter suddenly coming back to awareness.  He was just trying to get Tony to laugh, wanting to see the other man smile at him again, when he found himself pushed aside and no longer in the driver’s seat. 

Tony looked up when Bucky fell silent and, smart guy as he was, must have realized what had happened even as Bucky was scrambling for control.  Tony set his tools down and rolled his seat backwards, keeping his movements slow and nonthreatening.

“Hello, Snowflake,” Tony said, watching Winter carefully.  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine afternoon?”

Winter remained silent, looking from Tony, to the mechanical arm on the workbench between them, panels still open, and then back to Tony.  The action made Bucky redouble his efforts to take command of their shared body; Winter hadn’t attacked anyone unprovoked since the triggers had been removed, but between his ambivalence towards Tony and the anxiety coming in waves from having the arm worked on, Bucky wasn’t interested in taking chances.  He paused in his efforts, though, when he heard Winter speak.

“The Asset is not in pain.”

Tony’s eyebrows rose in surprise but he answered calmly.  “Not ‘the Asset’ anymore, remember?  You’re free now.  And there’s no reason for anyone here to be in pain if they don’t have to be, Icicle.”

Bucky could feel Winter frown, skeptical.  “Repair to the arm is painful, a punishment for damaging valuable equipment.”

Tony grimaced slightly before smoothing whatever emotion he was feeling away.  “That’s not how we do things here, Jack Frost.  That’s not how _I_ do things.”

Winter seemed to mull that over for a minute.  “Mechanics are instructed to allow the pain even when the Asset is not at fault.  Maintenance without established connections would be difficult and time consuming.”

At that Tony smirked, although Bucky didn’t miss the anger that glinted in his eyes.  “Well, Elsa, it might have been difficult for those HYDRA hacks, but I’m just that good.  A little tweak here and a little rewiring there by yours truly and now maintenance is always pain free.”

Winter looked back at the open arm and Bucky could feel the other’s anxiety beginning to fade and something like wonder taking its place.  Winter nodded once.  “The Asset confirms superior ability of Mechanic Tony Stark.”

With that Winter mentally retreated again, leaving Bucky to stare wide-eyed at an equally flummoxed Tony.

“Well,” Tony said after a moment, “that was the most intimidating endorsement I’ve ever received.”

Bucky couldn’t help but snort in relieved laughter.


	2. Fiber Arts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something's come up so this chapter is being posted a day early! Enjoy!

  1. Fiber Arts



Bucky turned over in bed for what must have been the hundredth time that night, wearily trying to find a position that would ease the painful ache in his shoulder.  The long, warm fall was finally over and winter had arrived, bringing bitter cold and nearly a foot of snow to the entire Northeast.  Twice in the last week they had been called out to deal with various up-start villains, a magician gone mad in Boston and an AIM offshoot in upstate New York, and both of those battles had included several hours of fighting in frigid weather that did the flesh and bone connection to his metal arm no favors.

After a few more changes in position that did nothing to help, Bucky finally sighed in defeat.  It looked like sleep was something that wasn’t going to happen tonight.  He kicked off his covers and sat up slowly, careful of his throbbing shoulder, but then stalled out trying to decide what to do next.  He was too restless to read or watch something, too sore to go to the gym to burn off some energy, and too tired to think of anything else.  He felt Winter stir in the back of his mind and he gave the other presence a mental poke.  _Hey, Winter.  Any ideas?_

Winter’s sleepy presence poked back, irritated, before becoming fully aware and taking in the situation.

_If sleep is not possible, the Avengers’ common area would be a satisfactory alternate location,_ Winter concluded after a few moments.

_Not really in the mood to talk to any of the others, Winter,_ Bucky shot back even as he stood up and reached for a pair of sneakers.  He didn’t worry about his clothes; it was late enough no one would bother him about his sleep shirt and pants and trying to change would only aggravate his shoulder anyway.

There was a noticeable pause before Winter responded, along with a hint of bashfulness coming from the presence that gave Bucky an idea about where this was going.  _The previous battles have depleted the reserves of our teammates.  At this late hour most of them will have surrendered to their exhaustion._

Bucky smirked at the response as he left his room and walked down the hallway.  _Most of them, huh?  But there might still be a certain genius engineer up while everyone else is asleep.  One who will probably be looking for coffee from the kitchen at some point?_

Winter grumbled in embarrassment and gave Bucky another mental poke but didn’t argue with his reasoning.

Bucky chuckled but held his peace.  He wasn’t sure what had made Winter change his mind about Tony.  All he knew was that ever since his surprise visit in the workshop, Winter had quickly gone from suspicious and on-edge in Tony’s presence to curious and eager when Bucky sought the man out.  Bucky had even offered to let the other presence talk to Tony again now that he felt it was safe, but Winter had quickly refused each time Bucky brought it up.  If Bucky had wanted the cold shoulder from the other half of his consciousness, he would have teased Winter for being shy.

Still, Bucky couldn’t disagree with Winter’s idea.  It would be nice to talk to Tony.  The engineer might even have some ideas to help with his shoulder, and if not, Tony’s quick wit always made for a good distraction.

The common area was dark and empty when Bucky arrived.  Disappointed but not surprised, he wandered into to the large entertainment room, choosing to turn on a table lamp rather than the overhead lights.  The lamp cast a warm glow in one corner of the room, reminding Bucky of his family’s wood stove growing up, or the wood fires he and the other men would keep burning all night during the war when it was safe and they didn’t have to worry about giving away their position.

He picked up his favorite blanket from the back of one of the couches, a bright red knitted monstrosity that clashed with everything else in the room, and wrapped it around himself, enjoying the warmth and softness.   He remembered enough from his mother’s lessons to know the blanket was handmade, that the intricate cables would have taken some skill and that the sheer size meant considerable time and effort had gone into its construction.  He had asked once where it had come from when everyone had happened to be in the kitchen having breakfast at the same time, but Tony had suddenly bolted for the nearest door claiming a forgotten meeting with Ms. Potts, and no one else had known except Natasha, who only smiled enigmatically at him before returning to her tea.

Bucky meandered around the room, idly looking at the books and knickknacks that had accumulated on the bookshelves and finally stopping in front of a row of small crocheted dolls depicting the Avengers.  Taking down the Captain America toy, he grinned at the tiny representation of his friend, its serious expression and the small replica shield.

“Sergeant Barnes, Sir will be arriving at your position in approximately three minutes,” JARVIS said quietly from one of the speakers in the room, and Bucky nodded in thanks.  The AI had taken to notifying him when anyone was approaching soon after Bucky first arrived at the Tower with Steve.  Both Bucky and Winter had been a mess then, Bucky fully aware for the first time in decades and confused as hell, Winter still mostly lost in HYDRA’s programming, and neither of them having any idea what to do with another person in their head.  It didn’t help that many of the Tower residents moved stealthily from force of habit.  The announcement wasn’t necessary for Bucky and Winter anymore, but it was still appreciated.  A few minutes later, Bucky heard footsteps approaching in the hallway.

“Hey, Butterscotch,” Tony greeted as he entered the common area, empty coffee cup in hand.  Bucky almost rolled his eyes at the smug satisfaction emanating from Winter.  “What’s got you up and about so late?”

Bucky held up the Captain America toy so Tony could see it.  “Just remembering when Steve was about this tall and picking fights in every back alley in Brooklyn.”  Tony laughed at that, taking the toy when Bucky held it out to him and studying it for a moment. 

“Yeah, I could see that,” Tony said, handing the toy back.  He looked up at the other toys, frowning slightly as he looked them over.  “It’s been a while since those were put up there.  I’d almost forgotten about them.  We’ve added a few new members since then.” 

Bucky shrugged and then immediately regretted it, putting the toy back in its spot quickly and rubbing his aching left shoulder.

“Bucky, hey, what’s wrong?” Tony asked, concerned.  “I didn’t think you were injured.”  Shaking his head, Bucky took a minute for the pain to return to a manageable level. 

“When the mechanical arm gets too cold or too hot, it hurts what’s left of my own arm where it’s attached,” he explained, dropping his hand from his shoulder and pulling the blanket more snugly around him.  “It’ll heal, but it hurts something awful until then.”

Tony set his coffee mug down and ran a hand through his already messy hair.  “Shit, I should have thought of that.  There are heating elements built into the arm, but they’re not enough to keep it close to body temperature if you’re out in temperatures as cold as we’ve been.” 

Bucky’s mouth twisted bitterly.  “Yeah, HYDRA was only worried that the arm was kept warm enough the components wouldn’t freeze.  Weren’t too concerned with comfort.”

Tony gave Bucky an understanding look before picking up a StarkPad that someone had left on a coffee table and quickly beginning to type.  “I can make some fabric that has electric carbon fiber heating elements woven in for the shoulder of your uniform.  That should help with the cold for now.  I’m going to have to think about how to keep the shoulder cool when the arm heats up, though.  That’s a tougher problem and may mean adding some additional temperature control directly to the arm.”

“Thank you, Doll,” Bucky said fervently, suppressing the sudden urge to give the man a hug.  “I mean that.”

“Well, don’t thank me yet, Jelly Bean,” Tony said with a shrug.  Bucky thought he saw a flush rise on Tony’s cheeks, but it might have been a trick of the low light.  “It still has to be done.  Now, since I am awake, and you are awake, despite it being what others would claim is an unreasonable hour, want to go to the workshop and see what we can cook up for this uniform of yours?” 

Bucky smiled.  “Sure thing, Tony.”  He went to follow Tony, but paused when he remembered the blanket he was still wrapped in.  He hated to part with the warmth and comfort, but he’d feel awful if grease or something else got on it.  Carefully folding the blanket and putting it back on the back of the couch, he turned to see Tony watching him with interest. 

“What’s your favorite color, Cupcake?” 

Bucky cocked his head at the question but answered it readily with a pat to the blanket.  “Red, why?”

“No reason,” Tony said with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.  “And Snowflake?  What’s his favorite?”

_Well?_ Bucky asked.

_Black is the optimal color choice.  It disguises most manner of stains._

“He says he likes black, I think because it will hide blood,” Bucky told Tony.

“No, no.  Not what he thinks is most practical.  What color does he like, just because he likes it?” the other man insisted.

Winter was quiet for long enough Bucky was afraid he wouldn’t answer.  Eventually, though, Winter responded.

_Gray.  I like the color of the sky just before dawn._

Tony nodded, pleased, when Bucky told him then led the way down to the workshop.

 

 ~.~.~.

 

Not long after the late-night meeting, new crocheted toys joined the lineup of crocheted Avengers in the common area.  When Bucky took a closer look, he saw that one was a small crocheted doll with goggles and little silver wings that must be Sam as Falcon, and another little doll dressed in black with shoulder-length black hair that must be him, complete with little crocheted versions of Bucky’s favorite rifle and Winter’s preferred Glock.  It made Bucky smile to see them included with the others.

Several months later Bucky came back from a run with Steve, Tony’s warming fabric worked into the shoulder of his athletic shirt and working like a dream in the still frigid New York weather, to find a large, brightly wrapped package in front of the door to his room.  JARVIS, when asked, would only say that it was a belated Christmas present and that the package was to be opened in private.  An intrigued Bucky brought the box inside, smirking as he closed his door on a complaining and overly curious Steve.  Punk always did like to stick his nose into everything whether it was his business or not.    

Privacy assured, Bucky tore the wrapping paper off the package and felt his eyes go wide when he lifted the lid off the box underneath.  Inside was a beautiful knitted blanket similar to the one from the common room, but in a deeper red.  When he lifted it out, running an admiring hand along the soft material and elaborate pattern, he realized there was something else underneath and smiled.

_I think that’s for you, Winter,_ he said as he carefully set his blanket aside.

Winter slid forward, taking control of their shared body and tentatively reaching to pull out a second blanket in a soft gray. 

_This is mine?_  Winter asked in amazement, something fragile in his mental voice.

_Yeah, buddy.  That’s yours._

After a few minutes, Bucky gently took back control.  He set Winter’s blanket next to his own and pulled out the note at the bottom of the box.

      Stay warm.

      --T.S.


	3. The Press

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for how Tony handles the press in this chapter came partially from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOdrbf5sX_M) West Wing clip of C. J. Cregg.

  1. The Press



Bucky idly listened to his team members chat as he put together a sandwich for lunch before joining the others.  Normally they would eat meals together at the large table in the kitchen, but today they were gathered around the television in the entertainment room to watch Tony announce the release of SI’s newest version of the StarkPad. 

Despite how excitedly the two financial analysts on the screen were currently discussing things like market shares and stock prices, the announcement wasn’t earth-shattering news to anyone but hardcore tech geeks, but the team had apparently taken to watching all of Tony’s press conferences.  The tradition had sprung up partly as a way to show support for their teammate, partly to keep an eye on someone who had the unfortunate tendency of being a trouble magnet, and partly because apparently any chance to see Tony in front of an audience wasn’t to be missed. 

“Alright, Losers,” Clint called while passing out pens and brightly colored sheets of paper.  “I have ten dollars that says _I’m_ going to win Buzzword Bingo this time.”  When Bucky was handed one in a yellow so bright it hurt to look at he had to squint at it to see a large five-by-five grid on one side with words like ‘big data’, ‘microservices’, and ‘actionable analytics’ in each square.  He looked to Steve who shrugged while pulling a ten out of his wallet.

“Just like we used to play back home, but you mark off a square whenever Tony or one of the reporters says a word in a box.”  He squinted at his own fluorescent pink sheet of paper.  “Tony keeps trying to explain what all the terms mean, that they’re not just using a bunch of nonsense strung together, but most of them still fly right over my head.”

Bucky nodded and pulled out his own ten dollar bill to add to the pile, setting the eye-searing paper aside and internally puzzling over the words with Winter while he ate his sandwich and waited for the press conference to start.

The analysts onscreen interrupted their discussion to tell the audience the ‘tech mogul’ Tony Stark was about to come onstage.  Clint crowed and bent over his bingo sheet to draw a large checkmark in one of his boxes as the image changed from the financial news channel’s studio to a stage with a podium next to a large screen showing the Stark Industries logo on a black background.  A few moments later Tony appeared from behind a curtain, smiling brightly and waving at the gathered tech reporters as cameras flashed.  He then made his way to the podium and the hubbub died down as he began to speak.

Tony was charming and charismatic, first joking with the tech reporters in a way that set his audience at ease and then quickly drawing them into his presentation that covered not only the new and improved features of the updated StarkPad, but painted a compelling picture about how it would be used in hospitals and factories, schools and homes.  Even Bucky, who had been in Tony’s workshop and seen creations of his that far outstripped the technology available in the tablet being presented, was caught up in the spectacle.

_Guy could sell sand in the desert_ , he thought at Winter.

_Agreed.  Tony Stark is highly persuasive._

When Tony finished he began taking questions from the reporters present.  Most of them asked technical questions about the features of the new StarkPad and things like extended battery life and processing power, while a few asked about purchasing programs for schools and nonprofit organizations.  Tony had just called for the last question when a reporter in a blue suit and a smug smile stood.

“Mike Mathews, Channel Two News.  Is it appropriate for you to spend your time on a flashy new toy to make Stark Industries and yourself even richer when there are new villains appearing every day?  Wouldn’t it be better to focus your time on Iron Man?  Perhaps the Avengers wouldn’t have to stoop to admitting a prolific and remorseless killer like the Winter Soldier into their ranks if you spent more time where it was actually useful.”

Bucky sat frozen, staring at the screen, as around him the team began to protest loudly.  Unease began pooling in his stomach.  It wasn’t that he was unaware of what many people thought of him and Winter; he had heard the same and worse from many of the friends and families of their victims when they testified during their trial in front of the International Criminal Court.  It was determined that he and Winter were not of sound mind while under HYDRA control, but that didn’t bring the dead back.  He didn’t blame the victims’ loved ones for their opinions. 

He didn’t think he could stand to hear Tony agree with them, though.

_Tony Stark is a friend and ally,_ Winter insisted, and Bucky wanted to feel comforted, wanted to agree, but the truth was he wasn’t sure.  Tony had been understandably angry and cold with Bucky and Winter when Steve had first told him about his parents.  Tony had warmed to them since then, treated them with kindness and care, but he and Bucky both had studiously avoided talking about the elephant in the room that was the murder of Howard and Maria Stark.  Bucky had been too afraid to find out what Tony really thought, and now it seemed he would find out in the worst possible way.

Onscreen, Tony paused before raising his eyebrows.  “Mr. Mathews, I do believe that is an inappropriate question for this setting.  I am not here as a member of the Avengers today, but as head of Research and Development for Stark Industries.  From your question, however, I can tell you have decided not to make note of that important point before attending today’s press conference.  Whether your choice was based on incompetence or a lack of decorum remains to be seen.”  A few snickers could be heard from the crowd of reporters while Mathews’ face grew increasingly red.   

“Regarding your first point, as you were apparently not paying attention to my presentation which was the entire point of your being here, my ‘flashy new toy’ as you called it can be used by the casual user, but it is also durable, powerful, efficient, and secure enough to be used by professionals in both office and field settings, including medical diagnostics and treatment, scientific research, and disaster relief efforts.

“As to your second point, Stark Industries has over 100,000 full-time employees and has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into local economies around the world while maintaining workplace and environmental practices far above industry standards.  Ensuring the continued economic viability of Stark Industries, and the charities it supports, would therefore be a worthy endeavor as I’m sure you would agree.

“Now, before I answer your final point, let me ask _you_ a question.  On what date was James Buchanan Barnes captured by HYDRA?” Tony asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Uh …” Mathews said, obviously trying to remember.  Tony cut him off before he could come up with an answer.

“James Buchanan Barnes was captured by HYDRA on February 1, 1945.”

Mathews nodded, seemingly relieved.  “Yes, February 1, 1945.”

Tony folded his arms and leaned against the podium.  “And when did James Buchanan Barnes escape from HYDRA?”

Mathews visibly swallowed at being put on the spot again.  “I don’t …”

“James Buchanan Barnes finally escaped on January 12, 2014 after the Battle of the Triskelion.  He was brought in by Captain Steven Grant Rogers soon after.  It appears you haven’t done your homework on either my company _or_ the Winter Soldier,” Tony said with a sharp smile, “despite the fact that information on both, including all Stark Industries SEC filings and the full transcripts of James Barnes’ trial before the International Criminal Court, can be found in publicly available documents. So, let’s provide a little background.  For all of you who have been paying any attention, this will not be new information to you.

“James Barnes was a prisoner of war for nearly sixty-nine years.  Twenty-five thousand, one hundred and eighty-three days.  Despite brutal torture, Mr. Barnes resisted all attempts at coercion until placed in an electroshock device that specifically targeted the areas of the brain important to the sense of self, memory functions, judgement, inhibition, personality and emotional traits, and decision making.  His mind fractured under the onslaught and the personality known as the Winter Soldier was created and the James Barnes personality was repressed.  Even the Winter Soldier personality was not what HYDRA wanted because when the Winter Soldier was left out of cryostasis for too long without the electroshock treatment, he began to show signs of independent thought and rebel against his captors.  At that point trigger words were introduced by HYDRA that would further control their test subject.

“Once brought in by Captain America and given treatment, both to deal with the extensive trauma dealt by HYDRA and to remove the verbal triggers, James Barnes was willing to stand trial for the crimes of the Winter Soldier.  Does that sound like the act of a remorseless killer to you?  What is more, after he was declared by the International Criminal Court to be _non compos mentis_ during his captivity by HYDRA and could not stand trial for actions he was forced to take during that time, did he choose to take his freedom and live in well-earned peace and obscurity?  No.  He chose to remain in the public eye and make what amends he could by fighting alongside the Avengers.

“All of us have sins to atone for.  I shut down weapons production of my company and created Iron Man to destroy the armaments that had been sold to terrorists by a man I trusted.  I can never fully make up for the deaths my creations and my negligence caused.  There are those who lost loved ones to my weapons who will hate me until the day I die and nothing I can do or say will ever change that.  I do not expect it to.

“In the same way, James Barnes understands that there are those who will never forgive him for his actions while he was under the control of HYDRA.  He understands that the pain and grief he caused, however unwillingly, will never be erased. 

“As is public knowledge at this point, I, myself, have lost loved ones at the hands of the Winter Soldier.  I can not say that forgiveness was either easy, or quick in coming.  All I can say is that I have had the time and opportunity to get to know both James Barnes and his counterpart without the influence of HYDRA, and have found them both to be men worthy of my respect and consideration and, yes, forgiveness.

“Thank you.  This press conference is over.  Mike Mathews, Channel Two News, don’t expect to be invited back.” 

Onscreen, Tony made his way offstage to thunderous applause, while in the Tower his teammates hoot and hollered in appreciation.  Bucky realized a moment later that his face was wet with tears.


	4. Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm busy tomorrow morning, so you get the chapter early. =)

  1. Children



Bucky knew he was different from the person Steve remembered from all those years ago, not even taking Winter’s presence into account.  Steve had called him a talker, friendly and outgoing, always ready to chew the fat or share a joke with anyone he met.  A snappy dresser, or as much of one their limited resources would allow.  A charmer too, Steve said, popular with the ladies, and a few of the guys. 

Of course, time and HYDRA had changed much of that.  Rather than the gregarious young man he’d been in a past life, nowadays he preferred to remain quiet even with those he felt comfortable with.  And fashionable he was not.  Steve, who wouldn’t know if something was stylish if it came up and introduced itself, despaired of Bucky’s current wardrobe of worn jeans, a handful of henleys, and a commandeered hoodie.

Bucky was certainly no Casanova anymore, either.  Any seduction he attempted would probably end in disaster and humiliation.  Besides, apart from a few wistful thoughts about a certain witty, brown-eyed engineer he had no chance with, Bucky had no desire to go looking for that kind of companionship anyway. 

All those changes Bucky could live with.  None of them made him feel more than a little bit nostalgic on occasion. 

One thing he did miss, though, was being good with children. 

He’d loved his sisters.  He may have huffed and puffed a bit for show when he grew older, but he never minded looking after them when his mother asked.  He’d kept an eye out for all the neighborhood children, in fact, teaching them how to play baseball and throw a punch and making sure the bigger children knew better than to pick on the smaller ones.  They were always eager to see him, too, and it had sometimes been the highlight of his day to walk home after working on the docks for hours to be met with their excited greetings and laughter.

Which made the current situation all the more painful.

The Avengers had been called out to deal with what turned out to be a rather poorly thought out attack on a local science museum.  The wannabe villain had been a spite-filled marine biology graduate student with some technical beef to pick with the museum’s narwhal exhibit and an ability to produce jets of saltwater out of thin air.  Aside from a few words he’d picked up watching Animal Planet, like physiology and population dynamics, Bucky hadn’t understood much of her rant.  Tony just muttered something about the squishy sciences.  Fortunately, Bruce had known what she was railing about and was able to talk her down before it escalated into a fight.

No one was hurt, but once the graduate student had been carted away by the authorities that did leave several school groups full of frightened children and their chaperons.  As the first responders began to organize an orderly evacuation, the Avengers spread out among the school groups to help keep the children calm and hopefully make them feel safe.

Eventually he and Tony found themselves with a group of a dozen 11-12 year-olds and an admirably unflappable science teacher.  Bucky couldn’t say it didn’t hurt to see all those children giving him a wide berth and wary glances while crowding excitedly around a grinning Tony.   He certainly didn’t blame them, though.  Iron Man was bright and colorful, well-known and well-loved, and with the helmet retracted the children could all see the beaming Tony Stark. It was obvious he was as enthused to see them as they were to see him. 

Bucky, on the other hand, struck an intimidating figure.  Dressed in all-black gear and largely unknown to the public outside of his trial, it only made sense that he would make the children nervous.  It didn’t help that with the danger so recently passed, and Winter so close to the surface, he found it difficult to act friendly and approachable.  

At least Bucky got some amusement from the fact Winter was as scared of the children as they were of him.

_I am not_ scared _of them.  I am_ concerned _.  They are small and breakable and have no common sense or survival training.  They could be hurt,_ Winter objected.

_It’s not like you’re going to challenge them to spar with you.  Just don’t step on one and you’ll be fine._

Winter gave a mental huff but ceded the point.  Bucky chanced another wistful look at Tony holding court over the munchkins and felt his cheeks heat up when he found Tony looking back.  Tony tilted his head and frowned for a moment, glancing around as if to take in the situation, then waved to one of the security personnel standing nearby.  He said a few words to the security officer who nodded and left at a brisk pace.

Tony turned back to the gaggle surrounding him with a grin.  “Now, I had a word with your teacher earlier, but who can tell me what you’ve been learning about in Ms. Norbert’s class?” 

A sea of hands rose around him from the class. 

“Excellent!” he said before pointing to a young girl who was waving her arm especially vigorously and bouncing in excitement.  “You there in the red.  What’s your name and what have you been studying?”

The girl’s eyes grew huge when she realized she’d been called and then she broke out in a brilliant smile.  “My name is RiRi, Mr. Stark, and we’ve been studying atoms!  They have neutrons and protons in the middle, and electrons that fly around them.”

“Perfect!” Tony exclaimed, giving the girl a thumbs up.  “Now can someone else tell me the difference between a neutron and a proton?”

This went on for a several minutes, Tony asking about the parts of the atom and the students providing the answers.  He was careful not to call on the same child twice, Bucky noticed, and was patient with any of them that struggled with an answer. 

When the security officer returned with a box of items that looked like they were from the museum gift shop, Tony asked for the students to take a few steps back.  The Iron Man armor opened and Tony stepped out to oohs and aahs from the children, followed by another round when the armor reformed behind him.  He took the box from the security officer and set it on the floor next to him.

“Since you know all about atoms, let me show you one of the greatest inventions in human history, the periodic table.  JARVIS, if you please.”

“Of course, Sir” the AI responded from the Iron Man armor and then projected an elaborate animation to the surprised gasps of the students that coalesced into a large periodic table on a nearby wall.

Tony threw his arms wide.  “The periodic table, everyone!  It contains information on every atom in the entire universe.  Each box represents information on a different kind of atom.  We call the different kinds of atoms the elements.  Let’s start with that first one in the top left corner, the element hydrogen.”  JARVIS helpfully highlighted the box in question in a different color.  “Our sun is made up almost entirely of hydrogen.  Now notice how there is the number ‘1’ at the top of the box?  Does anyone have a guess what that number may mean?” 

Tony spent some time explaining that the ‘1’ meant every hydrogen atom in existence had exactly one proton and that was what made a hydrogen atom a hydrogen atom and what made a hydrogen atom different from a helium atom or a copper atom or any other type of atom.  He also discussed how the elements were arranged on the periodic table and talked about it like it was the map of a fantasy world populated by two opposing kingdoms, the metals on the left and the nonmetals on the right, with a small group, the metalloids, acting as a small buffer zone between them.  JARVIS manipulated the projected image along with the lecture, adding illustrations and pictures as needed.

“Let’s be honest, though.  Atoms floating around by themselves are kind of boring.  Atoms of most elements don’t like to be alone.  They like to make friends, just like you and me.  We call that forming bonds.  They do that by sharing or exchanging their electrons with each other. And these,” Tony said, reaching into the box at his feet and pulling out a mesh bag full of marbles with the museum’s logo on the side, “are going to be our electrons today.  Sergeant Barnes, if you would do me the honor of being my assistant?”

As enraptured with Tony’s performance as the students and not expecting to be included, Bucky blinked in surprise but came forward slowly, standing next to Tony and facing the class.  All twelve of the children stared back.  It was rather unnerving.

_I think I owe you an apology,_ Bucky told Winter.

_Yes, but Tony will protect you,_ Winter snarked back.  His mental voice was slightly mocking, but also held the absolute conviction that Tony would do just that.  It was sweet.  It also reminded Bucky that he needed to have a rather important talk with Winter sooner rather than later. 

Sure enough, though, Tony laid a comforting hand on Bucky’s arm and gave him a warm smile and Bucky felt himself begin to relax immediately.

He might need to have that conversation with himself as well.

Tony let go of Bucky with a quick squeeze and turned back to the class.

“We’re going to demonstrate how different elements bond.  We talked about how every element is either a metal, nonmetal, or metalloid.  Metalloids are a little more complicated, so we won’t go into them right now.  But let’s say you have a metal atom and a nonmetal atom that want to become friends and bond.” 

Tony opened the bag of marbles and gave one to Bucky and took one for himself.

“I’m Iron Man, so obviously I’m going to be a metal atom.  Let’s say lithium.  Sergeant Barnes will be the nonmetal atom.  I think we’ll make him fluorine.”  Tony held his one hand out with the marble in his palm so all the students can see it and Bucky did the same at Tony’s nod.

“Now metal atoms want to _give away_ electrons, and nonmetal atoms want to _be given_ electrons, so I’m going to take my electron and give it to Sergeant Barnes.”  Tony picked up his marble and placed it with the other marble in Bucky’s palm, gently closing Bucky’s hand around the marbles.  Bucky shivered a little bit at the touch but luckily Tony didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ve given one of my _negative_ electrons away so I have more _positive_ protons than _negative_ electrons.  Am I positive or negative, guys?”

“Positive!” comes the response from the students.

“Right!  Sergeant Barnes, on the other hand, has more _negative_ electrons than _positive_ protons now.  Is he positive or negative?”

“Negative!”

“Right again!  You guys are good!  I’m _positive_ and he’s _negative_ so we have opposite charges.  And what do opposites do?  They attract!” 

As soon as Tony said that, he took a quick step closer and linked his elbow with Bucky’s.  “And now we’re stuck,” he said, making a show of trying to pull his arm away from Bucky’s but failing. The students began to giggle at Tony’s increasingly exaggerated attempts to get away and the corners of Bucky’s mouth ticked upwards.    

Tony feigned affront at the laughter, which only made the students giggle harder, and then turned to Bucky and poked him with his free hand.  “Well, let’s see if the Sergeant can do better.”

Bucky obligingly leaned away from Tony as if endeavoring to break away.  After a few mock attempts he huffed in exasperation and pretended to glare that their joined elbows.  The students’ laughter grew.

“And that is how a metal atom and a nonmetal atom bond and become friends,” Tony said, releasing Bucky’s elbow.  “We call that an _ionic bond._ May I have my electron back, Sergeant Barnes?”  Bucky returned the marble to Tony’s waiting hand a little reluctantly.

“What if Sergeant Barnes and I were _both_ nonmetal atoms, though?  Nonmetal atoms will form a bond a little bit differently.  This time both of us will be fluorine atoms.” Tony held out his hand out again with the marble on his palm and Bucky did the same.  “Remember I said nonmetal atoms want to be given electrons from other atoms, not give theirs away.  Since we’re both nonmetal atoms, this time I’m not going to just give Sergeant Barnes my electron.  Instead, we’re going to put our atoms together and share.” 

Tony placed his marble next to Bucky’s like he had before, but instead of closing Bucky’s hand around them, he covered Bucky’s hand with his own.  Something in Bucky’s chest turned over and he had to fight back a blush now that he was essentially holding Tony’s hand.

“See,” Tony explained, “we both can say we have two electrons because we’re sharing them.  And once again we’re stuck together.”  Here Tony pulled gently on their joined hands, careful not to break the connection.

“This type of bond, where nonmetal atoms _share_ their electrons, is called a _covalent bond_.”

Bucky noticed the students’ teacher waving and pointing at her watch.  He nudged Tony to get his attention and pointed him in the teacher’s direction.

“Well, it looks like Ms. Norbert is signaling me that we have five minutes before your bus comes to return you all to your school, so we have time for the last kind of bond.  That is between metal atoms.  We’re all going to do this one together.”  Tony let go of Bucky’s hand and then reached down to pick up the bag of marbles to hand to Bucky.  “Sergeant Barnes is going to hand each of you an electron.”

Bucky approached the students a little apprehensively, but their previous nervousness about him seemed to have vanished.  Rather than being fearful of him, they were all simply eager to accept their marbles and see what Tony had in store for them next.  

Once the marbles were handed out, Tony picked up the now empty cardboard box.  “Everyone, gather around and hold onto this with the hand not holding your electron.”  After some shuffling around, Tony and all the students were able to get one hand on the box.  They turned expectantly to Bucky when he didn’t immediately join them, not wanting to make any of the children uncomfortable.

The students didn’t seem bothered by the idea of him joining them, though.

“Over here, Sergeant Barnes,” invited Riri, the girl who had answered Tony’s first question.  She and the student next to her shifted so there was room between them and Bucky gingerly took the spot they had created for him.  He saw Tony smiling when Bucky glanced over at him.

“Thank you, Riri.  Okay, we’re all going to be metal atoms this time.  Imagine a solid piece of metal, maybe an old copper penny.  When you have a bunch of metal atoms together like that, they don’t just bond and make friends with one, or two, or even a handful of other metal atoms.  They bond with _all_ the other metal atoms in the piece of metal.  To do this, all us metal atoms are going to give up an electron like this.”  At that, Tony dropped his marble into the box and Bucky and the students followed suit. 

“We’ve all given up an electron, so each of us now has a positive charge, and this puddle of negative electrons,” here Tony gave the box a shake to demonstrate and they could all hear the marbles rattling inside, “something scientists call an _electron sea_ , acts like a glue between us so that we’re _all_ stuck together in one big lump.  This is called a _metallic bond_.  Share and share alike.  Now we’re _all_ friends.  You can tell everyone back at school you’re friends with Iron Man and Sergeant Barnes.  How does that sound?

“Now, it looks like your bus is ready.  Everyone take a marble to remember your friends and behave for Ms. Norbert and you’ll learn a lot more about atoms and the periodic table and bonding in class.” 

“What do we say to Mr. Stark and Sergeant Barnes?” Ms. Norbert asked as the smiling students retrieved their marbles and lined up by their teacher.  There was a round of thankyou’s and then the students were waving goodbye as they were led to the museum’s front entrance.

“You forgot something, Gum Drop.”  Bucky looked down and found Tony holding out two of the marbles.  “For you and Frosty.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said, taking the marbles and placing them carefully in one of the many pockets of his uniform.

Tony just smiled and bumped him in the shoulder.


	5. Dancing

  1. Dancing



Bucky blew out a breath in frustration as he surveyed the papers strewn out all over the kitchen table and the dozens of tabs open on his laptop screen. 

It had seemed like an easy assignment when his and Winter’s psychologist suggested they each find a hobby they would like to try.  Hobbies were valuable for mental health, Dr. Kaplan explained, reducing stress and providing a sense of accomplishment.  She also felt Bucky and Winter in particular would benefit from having something they could devote time and energy to aside from Avengers work and that might eventually encourage them to interact with people outside of the team.  The psychologist had provided them a list of possible hobbies and suggested looking online to learn more.

Winter, in fact, _had_ found a hobby fairly quickly.  Fishkeeping, of all things.  It seemed like an odd choice on the surface, but after Winter learned about bettas and how often the beautiful fish were kept in too small bowls, without adequate heating or proper filtration, and sometimes even made to fight, Winter had been appalled and ready to march down to the closest pet store to buy every last one of them.  He knew all about being cold and confined and forced hurt others when all he wanted was to be left alone, after all.  It had taken some fast talking by Bucky, and a quick call to Dr. Kaplan to discuss setting realistic goals, but Winter had finally agreed to caring for a single betta to start with.   

Of course, Steve somehow got involved at that point and Winter’s one-man crusade to save the bettas almost became a two-man mission before Bucky talked the two of them down to a betta apiece.

The effort Winter and Steve had put into preparing homes for their fish was both amusing and touching.  A ten-gallon tank now sat in a place of honor in each of their rooms and were filled with gravel and live plants and aquarium decorations for the fish to explore, all carefully chosen so that there were no rough edges to catch on a betta’s delicate fins or crevices small enough for a betta to become stuck in.  Filters had been installed that were gentle enough not to stress the fish along with heaters precisely set to provide the optimum temperature.  The water had been conditioned, the correct food had been purchased, and all around the tanks were ready for two soon-to-be very pampered fish.

The price tag did add up a bit, but it wasn’t as if he and Steve had a lot to spend their huge backpay on anyway, especially with Tony generously providing the team with room and board in the Tower and equipment for Avengers training and missions.  Besides, preparing for the fish made Winter and Steve happy, so he considered it money well spent.   

Bucky, however, was having much less luck than Winter in coming up with a hobby that he could get excited about.  Not much on Dr. Kaplan’s list had sparked his interest, and venturing online hadn’t helped him, either.  Well, it did introduce him to videos of something called ‘parkour’ that he was definitely going to goad Steve into trying sometime when they went out for a run, but that still seemed a little too much like training.  Bucky really wanted to find something that would be just for fun.

Discouraged, Bucky dropped his head down on the table with a loud thunk, crumpling some of the papers.  At least everyone else in the Tower had long since gone to bed so there was no one awake to tease him for being overly dramatic. 

_Any suggestions, Winter?  Or something you really_ don’t _like?  It may be my hobby, but you don’t have much choice about whether to tag along.  Maybe eliminating some possibilities will help me decide?_

_No cats_ , came Winter’s immediate reply.

Bucky snorted.  _Are you sure?_ he teased.  _My ma used to have a cat.  Great mouser.  Quite the little hunter.  Used to go after anything that moved._

Winter gave Bucky a sharp mental poke.  The other presence clearly didn’t appreciate Bucky’s cavalier attitude towards the safety of their future fish companions.

_Fine, fine._ Bucky rolled his eyes as he lifted his head off the table, amused and exasperated.  _Nothing that might harm the fish._

Bucky was saved from another sharp poke he could feel Winter preparing when JARVIS announced that Tony had returned to the Tower and would soon be arriving at the kitchen.  They both perked up at the news, bickering forgotten.  Tony had been on travel for Stark Industries for over a week and, although they had exchanged the occasional text or email, both Bucky and Winter had missed him quite a bit.

Tony sauntered into the kitchen a few minutes later, still looking like a million bucks in his smart business suit despite the late hour.  What made Bucky’s heart skip a beat, though, was the bright, open way Tony smiled when he caught sight of him sitting at the kitchen table. Winter’s suddenly flustered presence let Bucky know he wasn’t the only one affected.

“Hey, Butterscotch,” Tony said, crossing over to the coffee maker that had begun brewing automatically at JARVIS’ announcement, “you’re a sight for sore eyes.”  He pulled down a mug from the cabinet, looked at Bucky questioningly, then pulled down a second one when Bucky nodded.  “How are you and Snowflake doing?  And what’s all this?  You look like you’re studying for the last big test of the semester.”

Bucky shrugged, gathering the papers into a pile and closing his laptop.  Time with Tony was not to be squandered.  He’d worry about Dr. Kaplan’s assignment later.  “Still trying to settle on a hobby.  Winter’s doing good, though.  Even talked to Steve for a bit.”

Tony turned away from the coffee maker long enough shoot a startled look at Bucky.  “Really?  He came out to talk to Steve?”

“Yeah, we were all pretty surprised.  Dr. Kaplan says it’s a good sign, though.”

“How did it even happen?” 

“Well, it started because Steve got curious when all the aquarium equipment we ordered online arrived.”

_Your reporting of events is inaccurate,_ said Winter, unimpressed.

_My reporting is not inaccurate._

_It is inaccurate.  Rogers’ interest was already waning after initial disclosure.  Following events would not have occurred if you had not made unfavorable psychological comparisons between himself and a betta splendens._

“From that long pause I take it there’s something in your story Freeze Pop doesn’t agree with,” Tony said with a smirk before turning back to the coffee maker.    

Bucky grinned sheepishly.  He should have known better than to think either Winter or Tony would let him skip over his part in all of this.  “Steve was ready to let it go after I mentioned the hobby assignment and Winter’s interest in betta.  He didn’t get a bug in his ear about the whole thing until I teased him that I hadn’t seen something so small yet so ready to throw down since he was 95 lbs soaking wet and getting into brawls every time my back was turned.”

Chuckling, Tony poured coffee into the two mugs and set one in front of Bucky before taking a seat across the table from him and sipping his own.  “They do share a special brand of ‘shut up and fight me’, don’t they?”

“No kidding.  Anyway, Steve storms off, apparently to look up what the hell a betta is, then he comes back not an hour later with a stack of printouts, ranting about ill-informed pet owners and asking about the finer points of betta care.  That gets Winter’s attention, he asks to come out, and the next thing I know he and Steve are comparing notes and discussing what’s the proper ratio of pellets to freeze dried blood worms to feed the fish.”

“Freeze dried blood worms?” Tony asked, shaking his head in disbelief, but there was a fond smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

“They’re better for the fish, apparently,” Bucky said, at a loss as much as Tony.  

_It is an important consideration,_ Winter insisted.

_You don’t even worry this much about what_ we _eat._

_We are biologically enhanced.  Our fish will not have that advantage.  Proper nutrition is vital._

_Does a fish even have taste buds?_

There was a pause, then a slightly concerned, _I am not certain.  Perhaps enjoyment should be factored into our analysis as well._

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Apparently we’re also worrying about whether the fish thinks its food _tastes_ good now.”

“Of course we are.  So what you’re saying is that now we’re about to have _two_ extremely spoiled murder fish in the Tower?” was Tony’s patiently amused question.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Bucky agreed, dropping his hand and looking back at Tony.  “Just be glad it’s only the two.  I thought for a while Steve and Winter were going to stage a revolt.”

Tony let out a bark of laughter. 

Winter grumbled, but he seemed too concerned with this new consideration about whether fish cared about taste to take offense. 

Several minutes of companionable silence passed between them.  Left to his own devices, Bucky’s eyes wandered back on the stack of notes and printouts.  He really should just choose something.  It wasn’t the end of the world if he didn’t get it right the first time.  It’s just, as soon as Dr. Kaplan had mentioned spending time on something that had nothing to do with the Avengers, he had wanted that.  

Wanted something that made him as excited as Winter was about his fish, or as content as quietly drawing made Steve. 

Wanted something more than just another battle.

“Have you thought of trying something you liked before the war?” Tony asked quietly. 

Startled, Bucky looked up at Tony, blinking for a moment before what he’d said penetrated the fog of his thoughts.

Bucky shrugged.  “Steve suggested it, yeah.  I used to be a boxer.”

“Not just any boxer,” Tony corrected with a cheeky grin, “A three-time YMCA welterweight champion, right?”  At Bucky’s raised eyebrow, Tony’s smile turned a little sad.  “Steve really missed you when he came out of the ice.  Told us more about the great James Buchannan Barnes than he ever did about himself.”

“Punk,” Bucky muttered roughly, turning away to blink the wetness from of his eyes.  Steve’s devotion, both before and after Bucky’s fall, had never failed to humble him. 

Once he had himself under control, he cleared his throat and turned back.  “So, yeah, a boxer.  Not too shabby either.  But it’s not like I can head out to the local gym and go a few rounds with just anybody.  There aren’t many people who can hold their own against me now, and most of them live here.  Besides,” Bucky continued softly, looking down at his mug, “I’d like to do something other than fight.”

“Then do that.  Gum Drop, you can do whatever you want.”

Bucky knew Tony was talking about more than just his hobby.  If Bucky ever got tired of this life, of being an Avenger, he just had to say the word.  Tony had made it clear he would help in any way he could.

“I know,” Bucky said, giving looking up to give Tony a shaky smile.  “And really, I’m okay.  I want to be an Avenger.  I want to be a part of this team.  But I realized maybe I’d like to have something else, too.”

Tony studied him for a moment, then nodded and leaned back in his chair.  “Okay, so boxing is out.  Anything else come to mind?”

Bucky gratefully took the change in topic.  “Well, baseball is out for similar reasons.  I used to play a lot of pick-up games with the other neighborhood kids growing up, but it would hardly be fair to join a rec league now when I can hit every pitch out of the park and throw a 200-mph fastball.”  He sat up straight when a thought occurred to him.  “You know what we should do when the weather gets warm, though?  We should take the rest of the team out to an open field somewhere and see who can bat the ball the farthest.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the distances measured in the miles.”

Tony threw his head back and laughed.  “Oh, we most certainly will do that.  If it’s far enough away from anywhere, maybe we could even get Bruce to let Big Green out.  I bet he’d put all the rest of us shame.  Okay, boxing and baseball are no good.  Anything else?”

“Dancing,” Bucky said, a little wistfully.  He kept coming back to that one.  The bright, laughing young man he’d been then, swinging his partner around the dance hall in time with the music, seemed so far removed from who he was now, but the idea wouldn’t let him go, even as it felt impossible.

“Well, what about that one?  I know there are nightclubs and dance studios in the city that specialize in swing and other dances from the forties.”  Tony set his now empty mug aside and leaned forward to cross his arms on the table.

“I’ve thought about it.  JARVIS even helped me find some of those places,” Bucky said.  “I just …”

“Just what?” Tony prompted gently when he didn’t continue.

Bucky took a deep breath and let it out slowly, studying the grain of the table so he wouldn’t have to look at Tony.  “I’d need a partner.  Steve was never one for dancing.  He’d go if I asked, but he wouldn’t really enjoy it.  And I don’t … after everything I don’t think I can let a stranger that close.”

“Well, what about me?” Tony asked easily.

Bucky whipped his head up so fast he felt a twinge in his neck. 

“What?”  He felt Winter’s attention return to the conversation in response to Bucky’s shock.

Tony sniffed, playing up an affronted air.  “What do you mean, ‘what’?  I’ll have you know I was a proud member of the MIT Lindy Hop Society.”

“You were?”  Bucky was having a hard time wrapping his mind around what was happening.   

Tony gave a self-depreciating shrug.  “Well, there may have been a girl involved to begin with.  Or maybe a guy,” he explained with a wink, “I can’t remember now.  But the dancing was fun, like mathematics in motion, and I ended up sticking with it the whole time I was there.  Rhodey and I even won the Boston Patriots’ Day Amateur Swing Dance Competition one year.  I can do the Foxtrot or the Jitterbug with the best of them.”

“You can?”  Bucky felt Winter’s confusion over the unfamiliar terms give way to the mental equivalent of a snort.  That was probably fair.  When did Tony ever do anything halfway?

“Sure can, Shortcake,” Tony said with a lazy grin.  “What do you say?  Want to ‘cut a rug’ with me this weekend?”

Bucky couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped him.  “That phrase was old even in my day.” 

Tony rolled his eyes indulgently.  “Yeah, yeah.  Just answer the question.”

“I’m not sure I even remember how,” Bucky admitted, some of the giddy excitement he’d felt fading away.

“We have an entire gym at our disposal and no one likely to disturb us at this time of night.”  Tony’s expression softened.  “Do you want to see if you can?  Maybe even teach Frosty a step or two?”

And really, there was only one answer to that question.  Winter strongly agreed.

“Yes.”


	6. +1 Battle

+1. Battle

Bucky cursed Justin Hammer as he took aim from his perch on top of an office building.  With grim satisfaction, he watched yet another robotic monstrosity topple over in a shower of sparks. 

This was supposed to be their day off, damn it.  The first nice day of spring.  Everyone had been onboard when Bucky had suggested the batting competition and had been talking about it for weeks.  Bets were made, smack talk was exchanged, honor was on the line.  They had made arrangements with the Fantastic Four and X-Men to cover any emergencies.  JARVIS had found a spot with no one around for a hundred of miles that they could use.  They were planning on having a _picnic_.

And then stupid _Justin Hammer_ decided today was the day to make his big comeback after escaping prison and now New York City was being attacked by dozens of mechanical creatures and it was all hands on deck. 

One more shot and the last of the robots near his position were down.  “Sergeant reporting.  North sector is clear.”  From his position he could see Iron Man and Falcon and fliers from the other teams in the distance providing air support and taking on the airborne hostiles while the sounds of the ground battle continued hidden from view. 

“Roger that, Sergeant,” came Steve’s voice through the comms.  “Hammer’s forces have now begun moving southeast towards the Williamsburg Bridge.  Proceed south along 3rd and rendezvous with Hawkeye and Black Widow at the Houston intersection.  Keep an eye out for any stragglers we might have missed.”

“Copy that,” Bucky said before swearing under his breath.  The group of deadly constructs traveled like some sort of pack, changing direction at random which made predicting their movements difficult.  This would be the fourth time Bucky has had to leave one sniper’s perch and move to establish another as the battle left him behind and it was getting beyond frustrating.  He’d heard Clint griping about the same over the comms.

Bucky was about to stand when he felt Winter’s sudden unease.

_Something wrong?_

_Evidence no longer suggests movement of hostiles is random._

_What do you mean?  There’s been no rhyme or reason to their movements.  Every time we think we know where they’re headed, the damn things change their minds and head somewhere else._

_Yes, but always directly away from_ our _position._

Bucky ran through his memory of the battle up to this point and realized Winter was right.  _Shit._

_Hammer’s robots have repeatedly led the team away from our position, leaving us briefly exposed._

_Yeah, got that.  Fuck._

Bucky didn’t want to imagine who exactly might want to catch him alone. 

“Cap, we may have a problem …” was all he got out before he caught sight of a flash of reflected light from the roof of a building several streets over and instinctively threw himself to the side.  Something hit the rooftop where he had been a moment before and then clattered on the cement.  He returned fire, incapacitating the gunman with a shot to the shoulder, then looked down. 

A tranquilizer dart.    

_HYDRA design,_ Winter identified. 

_Son of a bitch._

A second dart whizzed by his ear and Bucky rolled to his feet, sprinting for the stairwell bulkhead door.  “Probable HYDRA gunmen firing on my position!  Objective appears to be capture!” 

He heard a flurry of curses and hastily shouted orders from Steve to the team.  Bucky was nearly to the bulkhead door when it burst open, armed men in black tactical gear spilling out and taking aim at him with more guns equipped with the tranquilizer darts.

“Asset, stand down!” shouted one of the men.  Bucky’s stomach turned to lead at being called the Asset, but he only ran faster, barreling into the group standing between him and escape.     

He took down a half dozen of the men in seconds, the close combat and Bucky’s speed making it difficult for them to shoot without hitting one of their own.  Breaking through his opponents’ ranks, Bucky felt a flare of hope that he could make it to the stairwell and find cover long enough for the team to reach him.  It died when he felt a prick of pain in his thigh and the world suddenly tilted.  He caught himself from falling and stumbled forward a few more steps, but then there was another prick in his neck and then everything went black.

 

~.~.~.

 

Bucky woke to the telltale beeps of medical equipment and hazily wondered what he’d done to land himself in Medical.  He remembered something about robots.  Sighing, hoping that a lecture from a worried Steve wasn’t in his near future, he tried to bring his hand up to rub his aching head but the movement met with resistance.

Despite a flash of alarm, Bucky was careful to keep his breathing steady and his eyes closed.  Something was wrong.  He began to remember then, the roof, the men in tactical gear, the tranquilizer darts.   

Now that he was paying closer attention, he noticed that the room didn’t feel right.  Sounds echoed strangely, suggesting a much larger space.  There was the rustling and movement of a number of people at a distance, but none of the comforting noises that meant a member of the team was next to him.  He tried to shift slightly, a motion small enough it should go unnoticed by anyone watching him, and found his arms, legs, and even his head restrained.  He had to grit his teeth not to react to that, too many unpleasant memories rising to the surface.

A familiar mental touch, gentle and grounding, helped him regain control.

_Winter, buddy, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore._

_I believe that assessment is correct.  With no one in our immediate vicinity, a visual inspection of the situation may be prudent._

Quickly agreeing, Bucky opened his eyes just enough to take in his surroundings.  They were definitely not on the medical floor of Avengers Tower.  Instead of the bright lighting he would have expected, the cavernous building he found himself in was dim and menacing.  Where there should have been a white, sterile ceiling, there was institutional green paint peeling off gray concrete.  Rather than the large picture windows of the recovery rooms looking out onto the city, the only windows present were small, dirty slits high along the walls.

Although he couldn’t turn his head, out of the corner of his eye he could see computer monitors and people in white lab coats.  Stationed around the room were more men in tactical gear.  The guns they were holding didn’t look like tranquilizer guns this time.

He heard footsteps approach and he closed his eyes.  When the footsteps stopped next to where Bucky was restrained, he heard a low chuckle.

“I believe the time for games is over now, don’t you think?  I know you are awake.”

Bucky opened his eyes and glared at man smiling down at him.  He appeared to be in his late sixties, gray haired and kindly looking if you ignored the hard, cruel look in his eyes.  It was a look all HYDRA scientists seemed to share.  Bucky and Winter were painfully familiar with it.

“Asset.  I am Dr. Alfred Baylin and I have been tasked with returning you to your former glory.  You’ve slipped your leash for long enough, I should think.  HYDRA would like its greatest asset back.  If you submit to your recalibration, your-”

“Yeah, how ‘bout you go fuck yourself,” he responded.  “I won’t be ‘submitting’ to anything.”

Baylin laughed.  “You’re going to wish you hadn’t said that.”  The string of Russian words that followed had been a part of Bucky and Winter’s worst nightmares for years.

But now, thanks to Tony and his B.A.R.F. system, not even a hint of the conditioning remained for the trigger words to latch onto.

“Yeah, still going with my first answer, asshole.” 

Baylin’s eyes widened in shock.  “Well, well.  Stark has been a busy bee, hasn’t he?  No matter.  What has been done can be undone, I’m sure.  The chair is being prepared as we speak.  Perhaps when you have been recalibrated, we will send you to fetch Stark and he can give us a demonstration himself.”  His smile twisted into a smirk.  “Before we have you kill him for his meddling, of course.”

Winter’s rage at the threat to Tony matched Bucky’s own.  He sneered up at the scientist.  “I have a feeling you’ll be seeing him much sooner than that.  He and the rest of the team will be here before you know it.  This whole place will just be nothing but rubble when they’re finished.”

“My dear,” said Baylin with a chuckle as he leaned over to condescendingly pat Bucky’s cheek.  “I’m afraid you must be mistaken.  Hammer’s pathetic robots delayed them just as he promised before we helped him escape.  We’ve laid false trails all over the world.  Our very best technicians have hidden our tracks.  Not even Tony Stark could find-”

“Oh, really?  Wow, then this is just embarrassing.  For you, I mean,” came a very familiar voice from somewhere in the room, sounding tinny and strangely muffled until one of the scientists pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and looked at it in horror.  No longer dampened by the cloth of the lab coat, the voice rang clearly through the warehouse.  “Not for me.  Well, maybe for me as well because _this_ is what you consider a challenge?”  One by one, more speakers in the room began emit Tony’s rambling voice until it was coming from all sides.  “This is not a challenge, this is a disgrace.  Also, Doctor Alfred Bad Touch, back away from James Barnes.”  

Panic started to spread among the scientists while the armed guards held their weapons tighter. 

Baylin straightened and turned to face the others.  “Quickly!  Prepare the Asset for transport.  Leave everything else behind.  We must evacuate before the Avengers arrive.”

“A little late for that,” came Tony’s disembodied voice.  “In fact, if anyone is feeling a little less evil than normal, I would strongly suggest you come out with your hands up.”

“He’s bluffing!”  shouted Baylin when a few of the scientists began inching their way to the nearest doors. 

“I’m really not.”  Suddenly there was a tremendous crash behind Bucky and sunlight and dust spilled into the warehouse.  The scientists screamed and ducked for cover while the armed guards raised their weapons at something Bucky couldn’t see, but before any of the guards could fire they were all taken down by guided ammunition that sparked when it hit its target. 

Bucky almost cheered when Iron Man walked from behind him into his field of view, repulsors raised.  If a mental presence could sag with relief, he knew Winter would have.

“Right.  Everyone not currently unconscious, in that corner,” Tony said, gesturing to an area of the building away from Bucky and the equipment.  He waited until the cowed scientists were gathered together before turning to Bucky and carefully using the suit’s lasers to cut through the restraints.

Bucky sat up, grateful to be free, and nearly fell off the exam table when a wave of dizziness hit him.  He was only saved from collapsing on the floor by Tony throwing an arm around his waist, easily supporting Bucky’s not inconsiderable muscle mass with the Iron Man suit.

“Whoa there, Gum Drop.”  The Iron Man mask retracted, revealing worried brown eyes.  “That must have been some powerful stuff they used to knock you out like it did.  Let’s just stand here for a moment, okay?”

Bucky let himself lean against Tony’s side.  “I’m so glad you weren’t bluffing,” he said.

“Well …,” Tony said with a quirk of his lips, “I was bluffing a little. We’ve got a bit of a wait before the others arrive.  I could get here faster than the quinjet and we weren’t sure how long you had.  The electroshock rounds should keep the trigger-happy ones down until they get here, though.”

Tony whipped his head back to frown at Doctor Baylin who was a little closer than he had been to the gun of one of the fallen guards.  “And if Doctor Evil over there wants to cause problems while we wait, he can join his friends in la-la land.”  Another of the electroshock bullets was fired and the gray-haired doctor fell inelegantly to the floor.

“How’s Snowflake?” Tony murmured while keeping an eye on the rest of their captives.

_Unnerved, but functioning within acceptable parameters._

“Shaken, but okay,” Bucky relayed.  “Thank you, Tony.  From both of us.”

Tony winked at him before returning his attention to the scientists, a small smile gracing his features.  “I couldn’t lose my two favorite dance partners, now could I?”  He squeezed Bucky gently around the waste and let out a shaky breath before adding in a softer voice, “I’m glad you’re both alright.”

They waited in companionable silence after that until the engines of the quinjet could be heard.


	7. ++1 Baking

++1.  Baking

“Sergeant Barnes, I’m sorry to disturb you.  First, be assured that there is no danger.  Everyone is perfectly safe.  This is not Avengers related, but I am afraid I must ask you for a favor.” 

“Sure, JARVIS,” Bucky said, closing the book he’d been reading and giving the AI his full attention.  He could feel Winter coming to attention as well.  “What kind of favor?”

There was a slight pause before JARVIS answered.  “There was a small incident in the penthouse kitchen.  Sir is unharmed but could use assistance.  I believe he would accept it best from you.”

Almost before JARVIS could finish, Bucky was off the couch and making his way up to Tony’s floor, not even bothering with shoes.  He didn’t know what was happening, or why JARVIS thought Tony would prefer Bucky over any of the others, but if Tony needed help then Bucky was going to be there.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he could smell smoke.

Bucky hurried toward the kitchen.  “Is something on fire, JARVIS?”

“No, Sergeant.  There was just a small baking incident.  I have already adjusted the ventilation, and the air on this floor should be clear in approximately ten minutes.”

“Is Tony …”  Bucky started to ask, but the words died on his lips when he entered the kitchen.  There was a layer of flour on everything, the counters, the floor, the tables and chairs.  The sink was full of dirty dishes.  There was a saucepan on the stove full of a blackened, scorched mass.  In the center of it all was an equally messy Tony holding a tray full of the burnt remains of what was probably meant to be some type of pastry.  It was still smoking slightly.

“Tony?” Bucky called softly. 

Tony looked up, startled, then quickly turned away, but not so fast that Bucky missed the watery sheen in his eyes.  It was possible they were just irritated by the smoke, but Bucky thought it might be something more.  Tony set the tray of ruined pastries down on the stove top next to the blackened sauce pan and tugged off a pair of oven mitts, head bent downwards.

It hurt something in Bucky’s heart to see the defeated slump of Tony’s shoulders.

“JARVIS called you, huh?”  Tony said, not looking at Bucky.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to bother anyone.  I, uh, just made a bit of a mess.  Nothing to worry about.  You can go back to whatever you were doing.”

That response raised all sorts of red flags up in Bucky’s head.  No matter the situation, Tony was always animated, always ready with a quip, or a joke, or an insightful comment, always prepared to take on the world.  Bucky had never seen Tony so discouraged.  He wanted to give Tony a hug but wasn’t sure how it would be received right now.   

_We must provide aid,_ Winter insisted.

_Of course, we will.  We need to find out what’s wrong first though and be careful.  Tony looks as skittish as an alley cat right now._

Once Bucky felt Winter’s acknowledgement, he moved a little farther into the kitchen, bare feet making tracks through the flour.  “I’m in no rush, Doll.”  

Tony was silent for several minutes.  Bucky waited patiently along with Winter, not wanting to push.  The moment felt fragile and almost dangerous, as if he had the power to do incredible damage if he wasn’t careful.  He would give anything not to do harm to Tony, and he knew Winter felt the same way.

Finally, Tony cleared his throat and glanced over at Bucky, then back at the sad, burnt pastries.  “Today’s Ana’s birthday.”

“Ana?” Bucky asked, stepping closer.

“The original Jarvis’ wife.”  Tony smiled slightly.  “She made the best cookies.”

Bucky couldn’t help but smile a bit too.  “She fed your sweet tooth, then?”

Tony nodded, smile growing slightly.  “Ana used to let me help her with her baking if my homework was finished.  She always made the most wonderful desserts.  Pies, cakes, pastries, she could make anything.  Her favorites were Beiglis, though.  The poppy seed ones.  They’re meant to be a Christmastime treat where she grew up, but Ana always made them for her birthday anyway.  ‘A bit of Christmas cheer to tide us over,’ she used to say.”

“That’s a nice memory, Tony,” Bucky said, coming to stand next to the other man and reaching out to give Tony’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.  Tony leaned slightly into the touch.

“I had just turned ten when Ana passed away,” Tony continued, smile falling from this face.  “Afterwards, Jarvis always made poppy seed Beiglis on Ana’s birthday.  When Jarvis died, I made them a few times to share with Rhodey at MIT, but once he joined the air force I stopped.  I couldn’t bring myself to make them without anyone to share them with.”

“But you decided to try this year,” Bucky concluded.

Tony sighed and poked sadly at one of the burnt pastries.  “’Try’ being the operative word.  It’s been a while since I made them.”  He didn’t say anything for a moment, then admitted quietly, “I thought I could share them with you and Winter and the rest of the team.  Ana would have liked you all.”

“It would be an honor, Tony.  I’m sure the others would feel the same.”

Tony shrugged.  “I guess I should just buy the Beiglis.  There are a couple Hungarian bakeries in the city.  I’m sure one would make them out of season if I asked.”  He said it with a frown, though, so Bucky could guess that it wasn’t what Tony really wanted to do.

_Think our baking skills are up to the challenge, Buddy?_

_I believe we have the ability to complete this task.  If you follow the correct procedures._

Bucky dropped his hand from Tony’s shoulder and turned to face him fully.  “Why don’t I help you clean up, then we can try again.  Winter and I aren’t a bad team when we bake on occasion.  He’s a stickler for following directions and I’m pretty good with a whisk and a rolling pin, so it seems to work out.  Between you, JARVIS, and the two of us, we should be able whip up a few Beiglis.”

“It would be my pleasure, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS said in agreement.

Tony looked surprised for a moment, but then shook his head.  “You don’t have to do that, Sugar Plum.  This place is a disaster, and I’ve used up enough of your free time already.”

Bucky knew there was no way he or Winter would be able to rest knowing they had just left Tony alone and hurting, but hearing that would only make Tony feel guilty.  Instead, Bucky demanded, “Are you doubting our baking skills?  Really?  I’ll have you know we made banana bread just last month that came out perfectly.”

_Your reporting is once again inaccurate.  The banana bread was too dense._

_I’m trying to assure him we can do this.  And it was not too dense!_

_The recipe said it should be ‘light and fluffy,’ but you mixed it for too long.  It was not ‘light and fluffy,’ it was dense._

_It tasted fine!  I cannot believe we’re still arguing about this._

Bucky came back to the himself when he heard a snort from Tony.  The other man was watching Bucky with a fond grin, some of the unhappiness in his expression fading. 

Encouraged, he frowned playfully at Tony.  “The banana bread came out perfectly.”

“Uh huh,” Tony said, trying to look appropriately convinced.

Bucky narrowed his eyes.  “It was certainly not dense because I overmixed it.”

Tony nodded seriously but couldn’t quite wipe the smile from his face.  “Of course not.”

“Winter just likes to complain,” Bucky insisted, crossing his arms.  He didn’t even try to suppress his own smile when Tony burst out laughing. 

“Oh, I’m sure that’s it,” Tony agreed when he finally caught his breath.  “The stoicism is just a façade.  Really he has a gripe about everything.”

Bucky rolled his eyes.  “You’d believe me if you shared a brain with the guy.”

That set Tony off again.  Winter harrumphed at Bucky’s accusations, but Bucky ignored him and preened at having caused Tony’s laughter.

“You’re sure you and Snowflake don’t mind helping me?” Tony asked after a few minutes, still chuckling, eyes filled with mirth.

Too caught up in Tony’s grin and momentarily forgetting everything else, Bucky said the first thing that came to mind.

“Doll, we’d steal the stars from the sky if it kept you smiling like that.”

It wasn’t until Tony’s eyes went wide that Bucky realized what had just come out of his mouth.

“Bucky?” Tony breathed.

“I mean, uh, …,” Bucky stuttered.  He’d thought of a thousand different ways to tell Tony how he felt, when he’d dared to imagine it at all, but blurting it out while standing barefoot in a kitchen still smelling faintly of smoke and covered in flour had not been a part of any of them.  Shocked by his own audacity, he couldn’t think of a single thing to say or do.

Luckily, that was not a problem Tony ever had.

Even as Bucky watched, Tony’s stunned expression turned to one of tentative hope.  He took a step closer, watching Bucky’s face intently, and raised a hand to brush a few strands of hair from Bucky’s eyes.

“You’d do that for me, Gum Drop?” Tony asked, sounding awed and amazed, laying his hand against the side of Bucky’s face.  The entire world seemed hushed.

Bucky could only nod.  He placed an unsteady hand on the small of Tony’s back when the other man shifted even closer.

“And Snowflake?  He’d do the same?” 

Another nod.  Bucky felt himself tremble when Tony stroked his cheek with a callused thumb.

“I’d do that all for you,” Tony whispered, his breath ghosting along Bucky’s lips.

And Bucky had known that.  Tony had moved heaven and earth for him, to ease his pain, to keep him safe, sometimes just to see him smile.  He just hadn’t realized everything that meant.  His heart pounding in his chest, he leaned down to cover Tony’s mouth with his own.

The kiss was sweet and slow, better than anything he could have imagined.  For the first time in decades Bucky felt drunk, the universe spinning around him, intoxicated by the lingering taste of expensive coffee and something rich and honeyed on Tony’s lips.  He let out a shuddering sigh when Tony slipped clever fingers through Bucky’s hair and swallowed Tony’s moan as he ran gentle hands up and down Tony’s back, reveling in the feel of Tony’s solid warmth beneath soft cotton.  Each moment felt perfect and precious and Bucky tried to commit every last one of them to memory.  It seemed like forever and no time at all when they finally broke the kiss.

Bucky felt something clench in his chest when he opened his eyes to find Tony watching him, his own eyes alight with happiness.

Winter gave him a mental nudge, and Bucky willingly let the other presence come forward.  

Tony’s brows quirked as he noticed the change in demeanor, but his body language remained easy and open, content to be stay in the circle of Winter’s arms.

“Hi, Snowflake,” he said gently.  “Haven’t seen you for a while.”

Winter regarded him solemnly before gingerly placing a kiss on Tony’s forehead.

“Bucky’s statement was impertinent but not inaccurate,” Winter said simply.  “There are few things we would not do to see you happy.”

“I’m getting that,” Tony agreed, almost shyly.  Bucky could feel the corners of their mouth turn up for a moment as Winter smiled at that.

“I have seven decades of memories full of cruelty and pain,” Winter confided, once again turning serious.  “And only one year of good memories.  Ana sounds like a good memory.  I would offer my assistance in remembering her.”

Tony blinked rapidly, eyes suddenly damp, and his voice was rough when he answered.   “I’d like that.”

Winter nodded, placed a chaste kiss on Tony’s lips, and slipped back to let Bucky take control.

“What do you say, Sweetheart,” Bucky asked softly, leaning in to kiss the tip of Tony’s nose and grinning when Tony kissed his cheek in response.  “Let us help you clean this place up and make Ana’s Beiglis?”

“That sounds like a plan,” Tony beamed.  He took a step away, much to Bucky’s disappointment, and sighed as he surveyed the state of the kitchen.  “This was not how I imagined our first kiss happening.”

Thrilled that Tony had considered what their first kiss would be like at all before today, Bucky just had to steal another quick kiss.

“Well, we’ll just tell everyone we were surrounded by flours when it happened,” Bucky joked, taking Tony’s hand in his.

His heart soared to hear Tony’s peals of laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it!
> 
> For those interested in a story snippet of Tony and Bucky dancing, I wasn't able to write it in time for the final posting date, but you can keep an eye either on my [Tumblr](http://arboreal-elm-ash-oak.tumblr.com/) or my AO3 work [Tumblr Prompt Fills](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876305/) for when I am able to post it.


	8. Artwork for Exceeding Expectations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely gorgeous artwork for Exceeding Expectations by [hereandnowwearealive](https://hereandnowwearealive.tumblr.com/).

And what do opposites do?  They attract!

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found here on [Tumblr](http://arboreal-elm-ash-oak.tumblr.com/). Come send me a prompt!
> 
> I'd love to hear from you. Comments are food for the fic writer's soul. :)


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